After the Varna Marathon: Sts Constantine and Helena

The Route: Varna centre → Sts Constantine and Helena → Varna centre Logistics: City bus 9 or 31A from central Varna, paper ticket from €1. A single out-and-back with no luggage to move. Marathon Month: May Duration: Day trip

Varna centre ──(city bus 9 or 31A)──> Sts Constantine and Helena
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      └──────────(same bus, same ticket)─────────┘

The Varna Marathon finishes at Nezavisimost Square beside the State Opera on a Sunday in mid-May, and the following day is the one for something that asks very little of the legs. This trip suits it. Sts Constantine and Helena sits on the coast north of the city, and the municipal tourist office calls it the oldest summer seaside resort in Bulgaria. Thalassotherapy has been practised here for more than 115 years, which tells you what the place was built for: slow walking beside salt water.

May in Sts Constantine and Helena: this is the edge of the season, not the middle. Hotel and spa hours vary, and beach equipment, water attractions and sea swimming should not be counted on in mid-May, and the Black Sea is usually still cold. Treat it as a shoreline walk with a long lunch, and check the weather the evening before.

Two city bus routes serve the resort. Line 9 stops at Balkan, Botanicheska gradina and Minyor. Line 31A stops at Letovishte and at Sv. sv. Konstantin and Elena, the stop for the resort centre. From the stop, a short walk brings you to the beach. Municipal paper tickets cost €1 for 60 minutes (about £0.85), €1.30 for 90 minutes or €2 for a day ticket valid until midnight, so the day ticket is the sensible buy for an out-and-back. Check the current timetable and the last bus back before you go, since service can change at the start of the season.

The shore

The beach strip is 3.5 km long, backed by deciduous trees and rocky formations along the water's edge. It is popular for long walks, and a runner who has just done 42.2 km should treat the full length as an option and not a target. The surface changes along the way, so judge it at the first access point and turn round when the legs say so. A 45-minute out-and-back covers the best of it. Beach access is available for disabled visitors, so ask at the hotel about the easiest way down.

The resort is next to mineral springs, and the municipality describes the humid, iodine-rich air as suited to balneotherapy. Several hotels in the area run spa facilities. A day pass or a single treatment is a reasonable way to spend an afternoon, though prices and booking rules are set by each operator, so ring ahead or ask at reception.

Lunch and the way back

Restaurants stand near the beach and in the resort centre. Choose by the menu on the door, and reserve if you are in a group.

Keep the return simple. The day ticket covers the bus back to central Varna until midnight, and your hotel room, with its bag already unpacked, is where you left it. That is the point of this trip: no checkout, no luggage, no second transfer.